Benjamin Banneker
Dates covered: 1731-1806
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Books:
Benjamin Banneker Benjamin Banneker in The My Itty-Bitty Bio series is a biography for the earliest readers. This book examines the life of Benjamin Banneker in a simple, age-appropriate way that will help children develop word recognition and reading skills. The series celebrates diversity, covering women and men from a range of backgrounds and professions. Includes a timeline, primary sources, glossary, and index. Younger students.
Benjamin Banneker: Pioneering Scientist Gazing up at the stars, Benjamin Banneker longed to understand how and why things worked as they did. In a time when most black Americans were slaves, Banneker lived a life of freedom and became known as America’s first black American man of science. He helped survey Washington, D.C., and became the first black American to write an almanac. Through his accomplishments, he helped advance the cause of equality for African Americans. Early reader. Younger to Middle students. Maryland.
Benjamin Banneker: Scientist and Mathematician A biography of the black tobacco farmer who taught himself math, astronomy, and clockmaking, became famous for his almanacs, and assisted in the original survey of Washington, D.C. Older students. Maryland.
Dear Benjamin Banneker Throughout his life Banneker was troubled that all blacks were not free. And so, in 1791, he wrote to Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, who had signed the Declaration of Independence. Banneker attacked the institution of slavery and dared to call Jefferson a hypocrite for owning slaves. Jefferson responded. This is the story of Benjamin Banneker–his science, his politics, his morals, and his extraordinary correspondence with a president. Illustrated in full-page scratchboard and oil paintings by Caldecott Honor artist Brian Pinkney. Picture Book. Level 6.4. Younger to Middle students.
Molly Bannaky On a cold gray morning in 1683, at age 17, when Molly Walsh spilled while milking a cow, she was brought before the court for stealing. The English dairymaid was exiled and sentenced to work as an indentured servant in colonial America. Molly worked for a planter for seven long years. Then she was given an ox hitched to a cart, some supplies-and her freedom. That a lone woman should stake land was unheard of. That she would marry an African slave was even more so. Yet Molly prospered, and with her husband Bannaky, she turned a one-room cabin in the wilderness into a thriving one-hundred-acre farm. And one day she had the pleasure of writing her new grandson’s name in her cherished Bible: Benjamin Banneker. Picture book. Younger to Middle students. Maryland.
Ticktock Banneker’s Clock Picture Book. Throughout his life, Benjamin Banneker was known and admired for his work in science, mathematics, and astronomy, just to name a few pursuits. But even when he was born in Maryland in 1731, he was already an extraordinary person for that time period. He was born free at a time in America when most African Americans were slaves. Though he only briefly attended school and was largely self-taught, at a young age Benjamin displayed a keen aptitude for mathematics and science. Inspired by a pocket watch he had seen, at the age of 22 he built a strike clock based on his own drawings and using a pocket-knife. This picture book biography focuses on one episode in a remarkable life. Younger to Middle students.
What are You Figuring Now: A Story About Benjamin Banneker In 1791 plans for the new capitol city, Washington, D.C., were in the works, but someone was needed to help with the surveying. Thomas Jefferson recommended Benjamin Banneker for the job. Banneker was a free black man who lived at a time when black Americans had few, if any, rights. Yet he was an accomplished farmer, mathematician, astronomer, and surveyor. What Are You Figuring Now? is the story of a man who was never afraid to try something new, no matter how difficult. Level 5.6. Middle students. Maryland.
Coloring Pages/Drawing:
Crafts and Arts:
Lapbooks/Notebooking Pages/Unit Studies/Activity Pages/Paper Dolls/Toys/Games:
Movies/Videos/Documentaries
- Benjamin Banneker: Surveying The Future of America | Leo & Layla’s History Adventures | PragerU Kids
- Benjamin Banneker – Revolutionary Scientist & Abolitionist
- Benjamin Banneker Saves the City Song and Sing Along! | DC History | Benjamin Banneker for Kids
- Jordan Robinson (Benjamin Banneker— Spoken Word, San Francisco – Hamilton Stage)
Museums/Field Trips (including virtual):
- Benjamin Banneker Historical Park and Museum, Catownsville, Maryland
Songs:
